Embarking on a Worldwide Photography Tour

By Regis and Kahran Bethencourt

How did you two first meet? Was photography always a part of your relationship? We both started out in the marketing and design world and fell in love with photography while dating long distance. We actually met in an online graphic designer forum—when we were dating, we would do photo dates to explore new locations and take photos of each other. We decided to start CreativeSoul Photography together while Reg was in school studying photography.

How did you come to specialize in lifestyle and children’s photography? We were always coming up with concepts and ideas for children’s photography, but never thought we could have a business that mainly focused on that. We tested the waters by setting up a website a few years ago so we could show people the children’s photography we were doing. When we started getting more requests for children’s shoots, it allowed us to focus more on photographing the things we love.

Are there certain steps you take to ensure that the child models you work with are focused and comfortable during the photo shoot? We start every session by getting to know the child so she or he can warm up to us before we start shooting. Kids will easily show you their true personalities when they are comfortable with the person taking the photo. Reg is like a big kid himself, so kids warm up to him quickly.

Kids will easily show you their true personalities when they are comfortable with the person taking the photo.”

When did you first get the idea for your book, A World of Curls? We had already traveled through several states when we decided in the fall of 2016 that it was time to explore other areas of the world. Kahran also left her full-time job in marketing around this time, so we had more freedom to explore without time constraints.

Since we were not able to do a lot of location scouting in person, we had to rely on location scouting online. We scoured the web to review videos, photos and blogs about people’s experiences in the location before traveling there. We absolutely love finding new locations and were able to meet some incredible people along our journey.

One of our biggest challenges in creating the book was finding our subjects. We visited several locations and counties that we had never visited before, so we did not have models or subjects that we could easily call on. We used social media to find most of our subjects; but in some locations, such as Cuba and Ghana, we had to meet potential subjects face-to-face and speak to them in person about our project. We were lucky to find the most amazing models just through local recommendations.

Do you have any suggestions for photographers looking to publish their own books? Think about developing your full plan of launching a book as opposed to just thinking about the content. There’s so much involved with publishing a photography book—finding your subjects, developing concepts, promoting and marketing, selling, etc.—that must be thoroughly planned out before the launch.

What conversations would you like to see the photography industry having? We’d love to see more people talk about how to continuously improve diversity relations in the field of photography, whether it’s speakers at conferences, models for clothing brands or photography competitions. Diversity is important for encouraging photographers from all backgrounds to feel confident in their ability and achieve their best.

What have you had to learn about working together as a team, rather than as two individual photographers? We are one of those couples who do everything together. We’ve always known that we wanted to start a business together. Our biggest advice for couples going into business together would be to identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses and find a way to utilize each other’s unique talents. It has helped us to separate tasks and create our own areas of expertise in the business.

Regis and Kahran Bethencourt are a husband-and-wife duo and the imaginative forces behind CreativeSoul Photography. With more than eight years of working with hundreds of children, families and brands, they specialize in lifestyle photography and authentic, visual storytelling. Their work has been featured in Essence magazine, on The Real daytime talk show and more.